Milo H. Adams is a man of great experience in the business world and also on the frontier and is now one of the highly respected and capable farmers near Nez Perce. He was born in Kempville, Canada, on March 9, 1834, being the son of James and Sarah (Barton) Adams. The grandfather of our subject was a relative of President John Adams and fought all through the Revolution, then moved to Canada, where the father of Milo was born. In 1840 our subject came with his father to Fort Madison, in Iowa, at that time a territory. Later, in 1842, they were where Des Moines now stands, it being then called Raccoon Forks.
In 1854 Mr. Adams came with an ox team to California and mined for some time, then returned via Panama and New York. He moved to Wapello County and on September 23, 1858, Mr. Adams married Lucy Woodruff. He then moved to Shelby County, Iowa, where he was elected treasurer on the Republican ticket, although the County went Democratic. In i860 he took a trip with his wife across the plains in an ox train to Denver. Returning to Shelby County, they remained there until 1870, when he went to Pottawattamie County. There he was elected the first mayor of Avoca and served four years.
In 1872 Mr. Adams went to Texas and took a large tie contract on the Texas Pacific. In 1880, on account of failing health, he went to Fremont County, Idaho. Regaining his health, he removed to the coast and bought a drove of cattle for an Avoca firm. He drove them through to Avoca and returned to Portland with twenty men coming via San Francisco. He bought four thousand cattle and drove them all to Avoca. In 1882 Mr. Adams removed his family to southern Idaho and was the County surveyor of Fremont County, Idaho, for two years.
In the fall of 1895 Mr. Adams came to the reservation and secured one hundred acres where he now lives, about two miles west from Nez Perces. He has a choice piece of land and it is well improved. Five children have been born to Mr. Adams and his worthy helpmate, Elpha, deceased; Lenna A., wife of R. C. Halliday, of the Grand Hotel, Spokane; Florence E., wife of W. T. Johnson, a farmer in Nez Perces County: Sarah E., deceased; Roy W., married to Grace Day, living on the reservation.
Mr. Adams is a member of the A. F. & A. M. at Nez Perce. He is a spirited and public minded citizen and is enjoying the golden years of his life in his quiet western home.
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Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903